Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever suffered a loss in their playoff opening game against the Connecticut Sun on Sunday night.
Clark, who was named WNBA Rookie of the Year earlier in the day, ran into trouble in her first major league playoff appearance as the Fever were defeated 93-69 by the Sun.
The 22-year-old entered the game with just 11 points, eight assists and four rebounds as she struggled to make her usual impact against an inspired Connecticut.
Marina Mabrey’s incredible 27 points off the bench gave the home team the win in Game 1 of this first-round playoff series, with a second win scheduled for Wednesday night.
The Sun’s Alyssa Thomas also had her 15th career triple-double, ruining Clark’s playoff debut. She finished with 12 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds. It was her fourth triple-double in the postseason.
Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever lost their opening game of the playoffs to the Connecticut Sun
Kelsey Mitchell scored 21 points and Aliyah Boston added 17 points and 11 rebounds for Indiana.
The Sun entered the game with 222 playoff games under their belt, while the Fever had only 19, including none of their starters. This was Indiana’s first playoff appearance since 2016. Connecticut head coach Stephanie White was in charge of the Fever that year.
Earlier in the day, the worst kept secret in women’s basketball was finally confirmed when Clark was named Rookie of the Year.
After drawing millions of eyes to the WNBA during her debut season, the former Iowa star was presented with the award on Sunday morning.
Clark averaged 19.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and led the league in assists with 8.4 per game in the regular season. The rookie sensation also led the Indiana Fever to their first playoff appearance since 2016.
Before being crowned, she was in a head-to-head battle with college rival Angel Reese, whose first WNBA season ended early due to a wrist injury.
Clark scored just 11 points as the Fever stalled in their long-awaited playoff debut
Marina Mabrey produced an incredible 27-point haul off the bench for the Sun
While Clark was deservedly given the title over a strong crop of newcomers, her fans were outraged when her first pick was not named league MVP.
Before the winner of the Rookie of the Year award was announced, the WNBA announced that Las Vegas Aces star A’ja Wilson won the MVP award for the third time, becoming the second player to do so unanimously.
However, after an X (Twitter) page dedicated to Clark final scoreher fans responded in the comments to express their disappointment.
‘Cc should have won’, a fan claimed. ‘They need to redefine the price. Most valuable player who is tf more valuable than Caitlin.
“Aja is on a strong team,” the fan added. “Caitlin turned a franchise around in one season. Shit, she turned the entire league around.”